The development of a new Rite-Aid pharmacy and store on Lower Main Street in Stroudsburg will be decided Wednesday with a bidding process for a parcel of land fronting McConnell Street that’s considered integral to the project.The borough-owned property, which currently serves as common access road to McConnell Street for neighboring properties, is set amongst a plot of land owned by Rite-Aid developers that is planned to be razed for the construction of a new Stroudsburg [...]
Source Business - poconorecord.com http://ift.tt/292FEB3
الثلاثاء، 28 يونيو 2016
5 Reasons Every Publix Fan Should Check Out “I Heart Publix”
Every store out there has its superfan, and sometimes those superfans create something awesome to share their love with the world.
Take Michelle. We only know a few things about her: She’s a stay-at-home mother of two boys. She loves saving money. And she loves Publix, the Southeastern grocery store.
So she launched I Heart Publix, a website chronicling coupons and deals at her favorite grocery store.
“They have fantastic customer service and even better deals,” she explains on the site, which also includes forums, recipes and giveaways.
If you love shopping at Publix as much as Michelle does, here are five reasons to check her blog before you go get your groceries.
1. The Forums
Join Publix shoppers from far and wide in the forums to discuss this week’s deals, including best bets for maximum savings. There’s even a spot to trade coupons with other forum participants.
The product reviews are particularly helpful whenever you spot an awesome deal on an item you haven’t tried before. Buying a new-to-you product or food item, even at a discount, can feel less risky if it’s got a stamp of approval from someone you know.
2. The Happy Report
Michelle offers a weekly blog post called The Happy Report, where she not only rounds up the week’s sale but also collects unadvertised deals at Publix. Not every discount makes it into the circular, you know!
As you review the Happy Report, you can simply click to add the products of your choice to your shopping list.
3. Printable Shopping List
I Heart Publix knows that making a list helps you save money at the grocery store. The site makes it even easier to stay focused by allowing you to create, save and print grocery lists.
It’s easy to add Happy Report items to your list, where prices and discounts are automatically tallied. All you have to do is save your list and print it before you head to the store.
4. Penny Item Reminders
Each week, Michelle posts the Publix penny item: a mystery item that’s only for sale for one day (except in Florida and North and South Carolina). The one-cent deal is up for grabs on the first day your Publix ad is available — either Wednesday or Thursday, depending where you live.
The coupon for the penny item — usually Publix-brand items like a roll of paper towels, a loaf of bread or a jar of pasta sauce — is only available in newspapers.
But by checking I Heart Publix each week, you can figure out whether it’s worth hunting down someone’s discarded newspaper and stopping by the store later that day.
5. Giveaways Galore
Michelle frequently posts brand-sponsored giveaways. But while some blogs go over the top to make products sound enticing, Michelle’s commentary is straightforward and family-focused.
And while some blogs make you jump through hoops to enter a giveaway — leave a comment, tag six people, send this chain letter across the country — I Heart Publix has the simplest entry requirements.
All you have to do is leave a comment answering a question. It’s too easy — so there’s no excuse for not entering!
Your Turn: Do you shop at Publix?
Lisa Rowan is a writer, editor and podcaster living in Washington, D.C. Whenever she visits The Penny Hoarder HQ in Florida, she heads straight to Publix for snacks!
The post 5 Reasons Every Publix Fan Should Check Out “I Heart Publix” appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
source The Penny Hoarder http://ift.tt/291ClZL
I Still Owe $15K on My Lease. Should I Sell My Car?
Last summer, I made a mistake.
I bought a car. From a dealership. With a big, fat lease separating me from the title.
After driving my beater from Ohio to Florida at 60 miles an hour and stalling four times along the way, I was ready for something reliable… but I’d heard you lose 20% of the value of a new car the second you drive it off the lot.
So I found a red 2014 Jeep Cherokee that was used, but only just. It only had 1,024 miles on it, but it certainly had been pre-owned: “Hubby <3” was programmed into the phone-link option in the console. It also came with XM Radio and a backup cam.
No, it’s not the cheap car you’d expect a Penny Hoarder to purchase.
I mean, I can change the radio with subtle buttons on the back of my steering wheel.
I also still owe $15,415.07 on my lease, not counting interest. After paying more than $300 a month for more than a year. After a hefty down payment and a trade-in.
Like I said, I messed up.
And now, it’s time to figure out whether or not to say goodbye to “Desiree” — and just how much it might cost.
What Does It Cost to Own My Car?
First, let’s get a handle on exactly what I spend each month to keep my baby on standby.
Lease
My payment every month is $305.
But not all of that is going towards the principal amount. In fact, according to my statements, an average of $60-$80 of that amount is just interest. Two steps forward, one step back. Ugh.
To mitigate my frustration, I try to put an extra payment toward the principal whenever possible, rounding up to an even $400.
Gas
Since I don’t drive much unless I’m going across the state, I only fill my tank twice a month on average. At $25 per tank, that comes to about $50.
Insurance and Registration
My insurance is lumped in with my family’s plan, which they pay once every six months at a total of $1,599.50 for the three cars on the plan. My Jeep is itemized at $683.10 of that total, which works out to a monthly rate of $113.83.
(Note to self: Pay mom back. Also, thanks, mom.)
Florida’s required registration program has a $225 setup fee, followed by an annual renewal which costs $28.85 — a monthly cost of $2.40.
Parking
I’m lucky to have free parking, so this item comes to a monthly total of $0.
Depreciation
According to this horrifying chart from Edmunds on the “TCO” — True Cost to Own — Desiree’s already cost me almost $2,000 in depreciation alone. And that’s before my dog puked in the backseat after we wound through Big Sur’s curves a bit too quickly.
Maintenance
One good thing about buying an almost-new car is that I haven’t had any serious issues requiring repair — knock on wood.
But when repair expenses rear their ugly heads, they’re usually pretty serious: I’ve seldom brought a car back from a repairman without shelling out $800+.
I also get my oil changed and tires rotated every four months, which costs about $70 each time. If I allow for one major repair per year and four oil changes, that’s $1,080 annually, which comes out to a monthly budget item of $90.
Total monthly cost of ownership: $656.25.
Depreciation and one-time costs: $2,183… and counting.
Yikes.
What Would It Cost to Give Up My Car?
OK, Desiree is definitely a drain.
But before I consider selling my car, I have to figure out how I’d get around in lieu of (almost-)owning my own vehicle, and the associated expenses.
I’m lucky to live in a pretty walkable area, but I’m in Florida. If I were to give up my car entirely, I’d definitely need to invest in some serious rain gear and a pair of boots. Let’s call that $100, which is lowballing.
Although I can walk to work, the grocery store is a little bit further away, and I also take fitness classes a few miles from my home.
For those reasons, I might want to consider investing in a bicycle — a skateboard or any other non-car wheeled thing is out, because I’m way too klutzy.
I see a couple of OK-looking used bikes on Craigslist for about $130, but they might need to see a repair shop, so let’s call that $200. I could buy a brand-new bike for something closer to the $300-$400 range.
I could go really crazy and get an electric bike for a couple thousand dollars… but since I don’t mind pedaling, that expense doesn’t appeal to me.
Even with a bike, my trips to the grocery store would be different in ways that might cost me in the long term.
I’d have to give up buying toilet paper and paper towels in bulk. I also routinely purchase the giantest bags of dog food available for my giant dog, which is less than convenient on two wheels. Although I guess I could just order everything from Amazon, or score a ride with a friend and pitch in a few bucks for gas.
As an additional complication, I travel a lot. Tampa International is about 25 minutes away with no traffic. At the wrong time, it could be closer to an hour. An Uber to the airport could be anywhere from $20-$40. If I fly about once a month, that’s a new budget line item of about $100, to be safe.
I also frequently drive to my family’s home in St. Augustine, Florida, which is between three-and-a-half and five hours away depending on traffic. In my car, a round trip costs about a full tank of gas: $25.
If I didn’t have a car, I’d have to come up with an alternative way to get home.
Bus fare hovers between $30 and $40 each way, more than doubling my total travel cost.
I could take a train, but that’s also between $35 and $60 each way for coach fare — it goes all the way up to $190! Plus, I’d have to take a bus to Orlando first and transfer to a train, and the schedule is pretty limited.
It seems silly for 300 miles, but I checked airfare: $210 round trip, and someone would have to drive an hour each way to pick me up in Jacksonville. Also, big red letters inform me that the plane in question is propeller-powered. #nope
Plus, my retired greyhound, Odin, usually comes with me. He’s too big for Amtrak or an airplane and he’s not allowed on the bus. (Ironic, right?)
So on my monthly-or-better trips to St. Augustine, I’d have to leave him behind, which is a bummer — and also an additional expense. In my area, I can find pet sitters for $20 per night.
The math is complicated, but here are some rough estimates of the costs of selling my car.
Between rain gear and a bike, I’d have one-time expenses of about $400.
And if I travel two weekends each month — which is fairly common — I’m looking at about $300 a month. That’s less than half what it costs to have Desiree at my disposal.
But it’s also a lot more hassle.
What Will It Cost to Sell My Car?
If I decide to sell my car, it’s not necessarily going to be easy… or even without costs of its own.
According to Kelley Blue Book, my car should get $17,731 if I sell to a private buyer who agrees with me that it’s in very good condition.
If we knock off the “very” modifier, that price drops to $17,396. And that might just happen, since I wisely covered the entire rear end of my almost-brand-new-car with bumper stickers.
The trade-in value is between $14,213 and $15,824, but then I’d be stuck in the same mess with a brand-new loan.
All these values are influenced by my location and, KBB tells me, are only good through June 30 — time’s a-ticking, and cars generally don’t go up in value unless they’re way sexier than mine is.
Plus, I don’t have the title in my hands because I still owe money on my vehicle.
I logged in and got a payoff quote: $15,462.98. Shockingly, I don’t have 15 grand lying around, so I’d need to use the buyer’s money to pay the bank.
I’d need to negotiate at least that much from a private buyer just to break even, and I’d be taking a loss on the car’s actual value.
Plus, my prospective private buyer, who knows nothing about me and little about the vehicle, wouldn’t get to see the actual title until I paid the bank and got it — which might make them less likely to go through with the deal.
Apparently I could also use a third-party service to transfer the money directly from the buyer to the lender, thus closing out the lien directly and streamlining everything. But, of course, the company would take a fee, so I’d lose even more cash.
Plus, are people who want to spend $17K on a car looking to buy privately?
Maybe I’m stuck.
Why You Should Buy Your Car Outright
Considering how much more difficult my life would be without a vehicle — and how difficult it might be to sell her — I’ll probably end up paying off my lease and keeping Desiree.
To stop hemorrhaging money on interest, I’ll figure out ways to pay off my debt as aggressively as possible.
I might take up a side hustle and put all those funds directly toward the car.
I’m already getting Netflix for free, but I can find other places in my budget to cut, especially travel. I already collect miles, but if I want to keep moving, I’ll have to seriously up my game on finding ways to travel for free.
But I’ve learned a very powerful lesson: If you can avoid it, don’t take out a lease on your vehicle.
If I’d bought a used car outright for a few thousand dollars, I would have saved myself thousands of dollars in interest and depreciation.
Be careful, though: You can easily lose out on all those savings if you buy a lemon that needs a huge repair every other week.
The best bet, of course, would be to live without a car. You could find a city with good public transit (although these do tend to be expensive), or check out these companies that pay you to live close to work.
Or you could find a way to work from home — or convince your current boss to let you go remote.
You’ll have a lot less travel to worry about, and less need for a car in the first place.
Your Turn: Have you ever sold a car that still had a lease on it? Would you live without a car entirely? Let us know in the comments — Jamie needs all the help she can get.
Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Her creative writing has been featured in DMQ Review, Sweet: A Literary Confection and elsewhere.
The post I Still Owe $15K on My Lease. Should I Sell My Car? appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
source The Penny Hoarder http://ift.tt/293PHYT
EU Referendum: Chancellor says taxes likely to rise
Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed he “absolutely” expects taxes to rise later this year, as a result of the UK’s decision to vote to leave the European Union.
Source Moneywise http://ift.tt/291zO3S
Get Paid to Eat: This Company is Looking for Recipe Testers in NYC
If you have an internet connection (which you obviously do), you’ve probably heard of meal subscription box services like Blue Apron and HelloFresh by now.
Perhaps you’ve even tried one.
After all, it’s hard to beat the convenience of a nutritious, yummy meal, with all ingredients pre-measured and ready to go. And who doesn’t love coming home to presents packages on their doorstep?
Well, if you live in New York City, you might be able to help bring the same convenience and fun to hungry people everywhere… by testing HelloFresh’s new recipes.
Better yet? You’d even get paid to do it.
Get Paid to Eat Amazing Food — Yes, Really
As it turns out, those perfectly curated recipes you receive with your box take some research to create.
Part of that research involves cooking and tasting them. And if you’re lucky enough to land this job, that’s where you come in.
HelloFresh is now hiring freelance external recipe testers based in New York City.
If you get the job, you’ll be responsible for cooking and testing three to five new recipes each week, from buying the ingredients to assembling the meals and writing detailed feedback.
Yep, you’ll get paid by the hour to eat amazing food thought up by world-class chefs.
Ridiculous rent or no, I might just have to move to New York City.
How to Land This Delicious Job
Sound like a job you can get behind? Here are the deets.
To be a qualified applicant, you’ll need basic culinary knowledge and knife skills, as well as — obviously — a fully stocked, functional kitchen.
The listing also specifies that hopefuls should be “very detail oriented,” have 24-hour access to email and the internet and preferably a flexible schedule.
You’ll test and review recipes spanning four categories, which correlate with HelloFresh’s customers:
- Family – working families with 1-2 kids under 14, looking for quick, easy, and nutritious meals for their family
- Veggie – vegetarians, or those who prefer vegetarian dinners, looking for flavorful, fresh produce and easy weeknight meals
- Quick & Light – customers looking for meals under 650 calories with a cook time of under 30 minutes.
- Variety – Customers seeking something “out of the ordinary” that they won’t find in their collection of weeknight recipes. Those looking for a change, but still a nutritious meal that’s easy and delicious.
The feedback you provide should take these customers’ needs and desires into consideration.
Think you can handle the heat? Head over to Indeed to apply and see if you can get into the kitchen (and get paid)!
HelloFresh is looking for someone to start immediately, so there’s no time to lose.
Besides, with stuff like this already on the menu, who can wait to see what HelloFresh’s chefs will dream up next?
Your Turn: Will you — or a foodie New Yorker friend of yours — apply for this ridiculously cool job?
Jamie Cattanach is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder, but if she could get paid to eat, she’d totally do that instead. Her writing has also been featured at Word Riot, DMQ Review, Hinchas de Poesia and elsewhere. Find @JamieCattanach on Twitter to wave hello.
The post Get Paid to Eat: This Company is Looking for Recipe Testers in NYC appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
source The Penny Hoarder http://ift.tt/2982yJ3
Pensioners enjoying nearly the same incomes as workers
The gap between the incomes of pensioners and workers has narrowed substantially over the last 20 years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
In 1994/95 pensioners typically lived on an income that was 38% less than the typical worker, but by 2014/15 this gap had reduced to just 7%.
Source Moneywise http://ift.tt/29bXzG8
12 Strategies I Use to Keep My Finances as Simple as Possible (While Still Achieving Financial Success)
I’ve been writing about personal finance virtually every day for almost ten years. During that time, I’ve tried countless personal finance and frugality strategies and read an absurd number of personal finance books and articles. After all of that, one might expect that I have some pretty complex strategies for managing my own finances.
The truth, however, is held in the title of this website. After all of these years and all of these tactics I’ve tried, I still find it best to just keep it Simple.
In fact, here are twelve strategies I still use in my personal finance management that really, really help with keeping things as simple as possible. These strategies have stood the test of time as I’ve been using most of them for many years now.
There are likely ways that I could eke out a few more cents or a few more dollars by using a much more complex system of keeping track of spending or managing my money in different accounts, but these strategies make up for it in simplicity. They make intuitive sense to me, take up very little of my time, and the money is right where I need it when I need it.
Hopefully, you’ll find some use from these strategies, too.
Strategy #1 – I Have a Cash Emergency Fund
We currently keep an amount in our savings account equal to about eight months of living expenses. There are several reasons why we do this.
First of all, it provides support in emergency situations. Sometimes unexpected – and undesired – things happen. A car breaks down. A contract doesn’t work out. Someone has to fly to Idaho for a funeral. A child needs a musical instrument. You get the picture. Cash solves these problems like nothing else. You can just pay for these things and not worry about them.
I don’t keep my emergency fund in the stock market because I want the balance to be safe and very quickly accessible. In a savings account at a local bank, I can get cash quickly out of an ATM. It’s insured up to $250,000 thanks to the FDIC and the balance never drops, it only goes up thanks to the interest (albeit slowly).
I don’t use credit cards as an emergency fund because the credit cards themselves may be part of the emergency. If I lose my wallet, for example, credit cards won’t help. If I’m suffering from identity theft, a credit card likely won’t help. If my issuing bank decides to close my account at an inopportune moment, a credit card likely won’t help. I just don’t trust credit cards in emergencies and that doesn’t even take into account the issue with credit card balances and credit card interest.
Basically, we maintain a “perpetually funding” emergency fund, meaning we keep contributing to it even when the balance is fairly high so that it will still be high after an emergency. This is handled by an automatic monthly transfer from our checking account into our local savings account.
In the end, we have an emergency fund that we don’t even have to think about. It’s just there for us when we need it and it essentially fills itself without a second thought from us. That’s about as simple as can be.
Strategy #2 – I Keep a Healthy Buffer in My Checking Account
We keep a healthy minimum balance in our checking account at all times – $1,000, to be precise. We essentially ignore that last $1,000 and subtract $1,000 from the number any time we look at our current balance. So, if our receipt shows a balance of $3,000, we think of it as a balance of $2,000 instead and pretend the last $1,000 doesn’t exist.
Why? Because of that $1,000, we never have to worry about overdrafts, ever. If we need to write a check, we don’t have to look at our account balance first. We write the check. If we need to use our debit card, we don’t have to look at our account balance first. We use the debit card.
If it turns out that we’re doing this due to a major emergency of some kind, we’ll take money out of our emergency fund and transfer it right into checking, which we can do in about two minutes at the bank down the street. Quite often, though, we never have to make that transfer because our buffer is more than enough to handle it if we were to accidentally get a little low.
This buffer is vital for other elements of our simplification process, too.
Strategy #3 – I Automate Most of My Bills (Ideally, All of Them)
Almost all of our bills are paid automatically using our bank’s online banking system. Most of the places to which we send bills report our account balances to our bank, our bank sends us notification emails, and then just before the due date, the bank automatically pays the bill for us out of checking.
The notification emails are nice. I can quickly tell if the bill is out of line or not and if it isn’t I don’t worry too much about it. If it turns out that the bill is really high, I can go online and look at the billing statement and figure out what the problem is and I usually have two weeks or so to do it before the bill is automatically paid. This virtually never happens, though.
Since we bring in substantially more money than we spend (“spend less than you earn” is an underlying rule behind all of these strategies), I can be pretty confident each month that there will be no problem paying any of the bills with the amount in our checking account. If I’m worried at all that it could be close, then I know that we have that checking account buffer to rely on, the one mentioned in Strategy #2. And if I’m ever worried about exceeding that, we have automatic overdraft protection set up so that it will tap our savings account if we ever hit zero in our checking account.
All of these things are things we just had to set up once and then walk away from. Nowadays, outside of a monthly bill review, I rarely even think about paying bills at all. I just read the notifications as they come in and unless they’re strange, the bill is paid without a second thought.
Strategy #4 – I Automate All of My Investments
The easiest way to think of this is that we treat our investments just like any other bill, as described above in Strategy #3. Putting money into our Roth IRAs and our taxable investments is fully automated, with cash coming out every week.
Because we do this, we never have to think about investing at all except for when we review our investments once every few months. There are often periods where months go by without me looking at any aspect of how we invest.
Why? We’re almost entirely invested for the long term. The truth is that we don’t care whether the balance goes up or down a little bit each day. We don’t even care that much about losing streaks in the stock market, aside from a bit of morbid but detached curiosity.
Our investment plans were set a long time ago and are reviewed annually. The actual week-in-week-out activity related to our investments is entirely automated and we never have to think about it at all. It’s just another bill, and our bills are all automated.
Strategy #5 – I Withdraw My Spending Money at the Start of Each Month
Each month, I literally withdrawal a certain amount for free spending each month. I take some of it out in cash and transfer a little more into PayPal for small online purchases.
This is the money I use for “fun” things, like eating out for lunch or buying a new board game at the local hobby store. For purchases where I need to use a card (the only thing I do significantly in this category is buy Kindle books), I actually use a card linked to my PayPal account.
When my PayPal account is empty and I don’t have any cash in my pocket, I just don’t buy any fun stuff. I eat inexpensive things at home and wait on any hobby or entertainment purchases until the next month.
Doing this makes “budgeting” for fun things very easy. I know what my spending limitations are regarding entertainment and hobby and individual dining expenses. It’s very clear and tangible – it’s just the cash I have in my hand or in my PayPal account. That’s it. It’s very hard to go “over” budget, but sometimes I do go “under” budget which just gives me more for the next month.
Strategy #6 – I Avoid All Investments That Aren’t Immediately Clear to Me
Virtually all of our retirement and taxable investments are held in very simple investments that I clearly understand – in other words, in broad-based index funds.
The majority of our holdings are in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index, which is a fund that basically holds a small portion of every publicly traded stock in the United States with very low expenses. In other words, our primary investments are in American industry as a whole, not in specific businesses, and that investment is done with a very, very low overhead.
I understand this investment. I understand why we’re invested in it. I understand – as well as anyone does – the risks involved with it.
To us, it’s the right balance of risk and low cost to meet our needs. It’s something that we understand clearly, something that makes sense to us, and something that matches what we want from an investment.
We don’t have a dime of our money in anything that we don’t understand well enough to both explain in one sentence and explain in fifteen minutes, depending on the level of detail.
Strategy #7 – I Start a “Tax Envelope” on January 1 and Close It Next April
Each January, I take out a big manila envelope and, on the front of it, I write “Taxes” and, next to that, the current year. We keep that envelope in our filing cabinet at home.
Throughout the year, whenever we do something that’s probably going to be tax-deductible, such as a charitable gift or child care for work or research materials for my work, we put a receipt for that expense into our tax envelope.
That way, at the end of the year, all I have to do is pull out that envelope when preparing our taxes and everything that’s tax deductible is right there in that envelope, ready to go.
When taxes are filed, I make a copy of the tax forms (in PDF format) on a DVD and save it in that envelope. I add any other tax forms – like 1099s and W-2s, to that envelope. I then close it up and file it away.
It’s such an easy process. I don’t worry about tax deductions, nor do I worry about finding old tax documents in future years. It’s all right there.
Strategy #8 – I Use Just One Credit Card for Almost All Purchases and Pay It Off in Full
For our day-to-day expenses, like food and gasoline and household supplies, I pay for everything with a single credit card (we’ve changed it on occasion, but we stick with the one-card system). That credit card has the best bonus program that we can find in terms of matching up with how we spend money.
At the end of the month, we pay off that credit card in full. Since we have pretty good control over our spending and only use this card for things we agree on, the balance is never really surprising. It’s just expenses at the gas station, at the local grocery store, at the local department stores, and maybe two or three charges for a family event. That level of spending doesn’t come anywhere near levels that could be problematic for our checking account, so paying the balance in full is never a problem.
In fact, our credit card bill comes in automatically to our bank, as described above in Strategy #3, and is paid automatically, too. I know roughly what the balance should be each month, so I don’t really worry about it very much. I usually read through the statement quickly once a month, just to make sure there aren’t any unauthorized expenses, but that’s the extent of my concern when it comes to credit card bills.
A credit card is just a tool to make buying groceries and household supplies and the occasional additional odd item very easy, and along the way we earn some benefits from using the card. Often, this takes the form of free hotel stays during our family’s summer vacation.
Strategy #9 – I Talk To My Wife About Money All the Time
When my wife and I first combined our banking accounts, we found ourselves regularly doing things that interfered with what the other person was doing. This caused us to overdraft a few times and come very close to overdrafting at other times, a situation that wasn’t good for either one of us.
We also didn’t really have any coherent investment plans and weren’t saving in concert for any of our big shared goals.
The biggest reason for that was a lack of communication. We never really talked about money very much, so when we did, it usually ended up being a big argument that left us both feeling bad and caused damage to our relationship.
Now, we talk about money all the time, almost to a comical level. We share virtually every expense with each other aside from money spent out of our personal “fun money.” We talk about goals constantly, like whether we should buy a new house or stay in the one we’re in or whether retiring early is the best goal or we should have other things in mind.
Because of that, we both feel as though we’re on the same page on virtually everything financial in our lives. We don’t have money fights any more, and that’s probably the most simplifying thing on this entire list as it makes our relationship that much simpler.
Strategy #10 – I Buy Lots of Bulk Goods
Whenever we buy staples – nonperishable food and household items that we use very regularly – we almost always buy them in bulk, meaning that we buy them in the largest quantity available, even if the initial price is higher.
Why do we do that? There are several reasons, but those reasons boil down to two main categories.
First of all, bulk purchases often have the lowest “cost per use” of any option; you’re just buying a lot of uses at once. A gigantic package of toilet paper, for example, might have the highest price on the shelf in the store, but when you look at it per roll or per use, the price actually ends up being the lowest. We basically ignore sticker price and focus on the price per unit. This saves us money.
Second, buying in bulk means fewer trips to the store. Since we can typically survive months on our purchases of many bulk items, we simply don’t have to run to the store that often for things like toilet paper or trash bags. We have those things in abundance. This enables us to stretch out our grocery store visits and we have very few “emergency runs” to the store. We have the things we need to get through until our next regularly planned store visit. This saves us time and money.
We spend less time making grocery lists. We spend less time in the store. We save money to boot. That’s the beauty of doing things in a financially simple way.
Strategy #11 – I Process All Mail as a Batch Once a Week
We get mail every day. Rather than really worrying about it very much, I just leaf through it and put it in a basket in our house, pulling out just the magazines and anything else that looks interesting. I don’t worry about the bills or the potential junk mail or anything like that.
Once every week – or sometimes once every two weeks – I’ll pull out all of the mail and go through it in one big batch, tossing all of the junk and handling anything that’s actually important all at once. This usually means paying a bill or two that isn’t automated or responding to a letter or two.
Between those mail processing sessions, I just don’t really worry about the mail. There’s nothing that comes in that can’t wait a few days, so it waits a few days. Mail sits in our basket between processing sessions because, by processing all of the mail at once, it gets done way faster and more efficiently than if I did it every day.
Mail really isn’t all that urgent when you get right down to it. It might be important, but it doesn’t really have any burning urgency. It can wait a few days, and by waiting a few days, it becomes much simpler to deal with because I can do it all in a batch.
Strategy #12 – I Keep an Allowance Balance on the Calendar
We use an allowance system with our children to help them learn about money management. Each week, they receive a small amount by default and have the capacity to earn more if they do exceptionally well at a task or take on extra tasks.
Our method for recording all of this is to use our wall calendar. Whenever our children earn money, we note it on the calendar on the day they earned it by writing their first initial, their new allowance balance, and a parent initial. Whenever they choose to spend some of their allowance or want some of it for “pocket money,” we note the new lower allowance balance in the same way.
That way, whenever they want to make a purchase, we go to the calendar and look back at the previous balance to see if they have enough.
We used to have a cash-based system, but that actually made for more work for us and caused more problems with the kids, believe it or not. This system makes it feel more like they have an “account” where they can check the balance when they want to and that makes things a lot simpler for mom and dad, too.
Final Thoughts
All of these strategies really have one thing in common: they make things simpler. There’s less time invested in financial management. There’s less confusion. There’s less conflict. Virtually nothing important is lost or forgotten.
It’s simple, which is just how I like it.
The post 12 Strategies I Use to Keep My Finances as Simple as Possible (While Still Achieving Financial Success) appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Source The Simple Dollar The Simple Dollar http://ift.tt/291giDs
These 7 Twitter Accounts Can Help You Save Money on Just About Anything
Technology has made saving money so much easier.
Twitter, in particular, has been a godsend. You no longer have to scour newspapers, sign up for email newsletters or keep an eye out for sales to know exactly when to get the best price.
If you’re following the right Twitter accounts, the deals will come to YOU.
These accounts share deals from retailers like Nike, Amazon, Walmart and more, so you’re buying from sites you know and trust, and you can rely on the retailer’s quality and return policy.
Plus, since you’re just following these accounts on Twitter, you don’t have to pay any membership fees or make any pre-purchases to access the deals. All you need is a Twitter account to get the up-to-the-minute information and savings.
Here are some of my favorite Twitter accounts that help you save money on sneakers, electronics, cooking utensils, bedding and so much more.
1. @FatKidDeals
Steal on this 32″ 1080p LED Samsung TV, only $199.99! https://t.co/OaZx6GLxHP http://pic.twitter.com/ewRxSA2ftE
— Fat Kid Deals (@FatKidDeals) June 7, 2016
@FatKidDeals is hands down one of Twitter’s best accounts for saving money.
It shares a staggering number of daily sales and discounted items from Amazon.
You can save on laundry detergent, baby wipes, office furniture, headphones and almost anything else you can think of.
2. @SlickDeals
Hasbro Toys & Game Sale: 50% Off Playskool, Nerf, Play-Doh, Star Wars & More from $2.50 + Free S&H https://t.co/jiJMniXPC6 — slickdeals (@slickdeals) June 7, 2016
@SlickDeals consider itself “the largest & best community driven deal sharing site for deals and coupons” — and it’s earned its reputation.
A month ago, I was in the market for a brand-new television. Within a week of my search, @SlickDeals posted a link from Walmart for a refurbished 55-inch TV for $350. The MSRP value was over $300 more!
This account often shares deals from Amazon, Walmart and other major retailers.
3. @SneakerSteal
WMNS NIKE AIR HUARACHE ULTRA “TURQUOISE” $89.97 FREE SHIPPING https://t.co/KpcwuiWns5 http://pic.twitter.com/aSlH3yXDCG
— Sneaker Steal (@sneakersteal) June 7, 2016
There was a time when buying sneakers was a real challenge.
The variety and options were limited, and you had an even smaller opportunity to buy sneakers at a discounted price if you didn’t live in a major city.
@SneakerSteal changed all that. The tagline for the account is “steals, not deals,” and it’s true. Sales can range from 25% to even 50% off the original MSRP, and you’ll also see frequent free shipping deals.
Look for great Nike deals from @SneakerSteal.
4. @KicksDeals
These 2 Nike styles are just a couple pairs you can get for 25% OFF in this @bdgastore deal: https://t.co/BBbUEXMocG http://pic.twitter.com/Dx1svecdmH — Kicks Deals (@KicksDeals) June 7, 2016
@KicksDeals is “the #1 source for deals on sneakers.”
Its motto is for buyers to “never pay full retail,” whether you’re a sneaker collector or just looking for a new pair of gym shoes. This account shares deals on Nike, Adidas and Asics footwear.
About a year ago, I wanted to get back into my fitness goals and was in desperate need of a new pair of running shoes. Rather than going to Footaction or Foot Locker, I shopped around on KicksDeals.
I ended up buying a pair of running shoes for about 30% less than the same pair I saw at brick-and-mortar stores.
If you’re in Canada or the U.K., you can also follow @KicksDealsCA or @KicksDealsEU for location-specific deals. These accounts feature free shipping deals, too.
5. @DealsPlus
Up to 70% Off Sale + Free Samples! https://t.co/JAuzcEaXKS http://pic.twitter.com/BsZzSHsKe4
— DealsPlus (@DealsPlus) June 7, 2016
@DealsPlus discounts can get as high as 60%-70% off retail prices. It shares deals from a ton of retailers, such as at Best Buy, Sears and NewEgg.
If an item is available in more than one place, @DealsPlus will include several options for you to choose from.
For example, the account recently featured a sale for a refurbished 11.6” MacBook Air. It highlighted the listing on eBay, where the MacBook sold for $499. But at the bottom of the post, you could see Newegg’s $650 price tag for the same computer.
6. @9to5Toys
Hoover’s Cordless Upright Vac keeps any surface in your home spotless for $150 (Orig. $300) https://t.co/d4kzCSgB9z http://pic.twitter.com/eOkq3W8ocN — 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) June 7, 2016
@9to5Toys is a dream come true for those of us looking to buy discounted electronics.
I tend to have the “dropsies” when it comes to cell phones. When I purchased a new one earlier this year, I decided to protect my investment by buying a phone case. I expected to pay around $30, but @9to5Toys had cases on sale for a fraction of the price!
Look for deals on gadgets and gizmos from retailers like Amazon, Best Buy and Apple.
7. @KinjaDeals
Save $20 on @gomohu’s newest antenna, which is actually made from recycled cable boxes. https://t.co/UnmqQWARKB http://pic.twitter.com/8Og6nLdjsn
— Kinja Deals (@KinjaDeals) June 7, 2016
Gawker Media’s commerce team curates @KinjaDeals, which highlights “the best deals on the internet.”
The commerce team looks for deals its readers will find useful, from electronics to clothing, from major retailers like Amazon.
They also take user submissions, though the team filters these before sharing to avoid “deals that require legwork (physical or digital), deals that require paid memberships or specific credit cards, deals that are based entirely on rebates, or anything preceded by ‘YMMV.’”
In addition to its “daily deals,” @KinjaDeals occasionally publish blog posts rounding up “the best deals we’ve seen on [X]” to help you get the biggest bang for your buck.
Your Turn: What Twitter accounts do you follow for great deals on your favorite items?
Garfield N. Hylton, J.D., is the Editor-In-Chief at Abernathy Magazine and a writer at The Smoking Section. When he’s not hiding from either of those responsibilities, he enjoys reading graphic novels on his tablet.
The post These 7 Twitter Accounts Can Help You Save Money on Just About Anything appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
source The Penny Hoarder http://ift.tt/2900Ie7
Top five pension con tricks revealed
A pension fraud campaign group has highlighted five signs that should set alarm bells ringing and alert you to the fact you and your savings could be the target of a sophisticated scam.
Source Moneywise http://ift.tt/290CzAz
Can I still use my mobile abroad after Brexit? Moneywise answers
Mobile users could be charged more to use their phones abroad, both inside and outside of Europe, in light of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU).
Source Moneywise http://ift.tt/290FMlv
Rebuilding Your Credit After Bankruptcy
People tend to think of bankruptcy as the financial equivalent of breaking a mirror — seven years’ bad luck. And while bankruptcy is no walk in the park, fear can prevent people from using it as it was intended: as a a tool to get their financial house in order.
Make no mistake about it, though: There is life after bankruptcy. Whether or not you should file for bankruptcy is a deeply difficult and personal decision, but you should let the facts, not your fears, be your guide.
The Type of Bankruptcy Matters
Before getting too deep into the reeds, it’s important to talk about the two different kinds of bankruptcy available to individuals:
- Chapter 7: When you file this kind of bankruptcy, you basically wipe out all your debts. It will stay on your credit report for 10 years.
- Chapter 13: This type of bankruptcy involves a plan to pay off part or all of your debts over the course of three to five years. It will stay on your credit report for seven years.
Of course, there are many more differences between the two. But as a general rule, Chapter 7 presents more difficult and longer-reaching complications for your credit than Chapter 13.
How to Repair Your Credit After a Bankruptcy
The first thing you need to remember is that the entire purpose of bankruptcy is to get your financial life back on track. So don’t feel like it’s the end of the line. Rather, it’s a new beginning.
What’s more, remember that older information on your credit report is less important than more current data points. With this in mind, let’s talk about what you can do to start repairing your credit after you’ve declared bankruptcy.
Step one is getting credit. You might be understandably a little gun-shy after ruining your credit the last time around. But you’ve hopefully learned something about how to use credit responsibly. More importantly, there’s no way to start repairing your credit without using credit.
Start off by getting a secured credit card, not a prepaid debit card. Most secured cards require a deposit, such as $500, which acts as your credit limit. Make small purchases each month, pay them off on time, and you’re eventually going to get upgraded to an unsecured (traditional) credit card.
The important thing is to make sure you don’t get in over your head again. Use your credit for simple purchases like gas and groceries. Budget for these purchases and pay the card off every month. That’s going to start establishing a good payment history — the most important component of your credit score — as well as a favorable credit utilization ratio, or how much of your available credit you’re using.
Some might suggest that you get a friend or family member to add you as an authorized user on their card, but that can be dangerous. If you do happen to fall back into your old, reckless ways, you’re not just going to run into problems with your credit — you also risk damaging your closest relationships.
Once you get your credit back on an upward trajectory, what else can you do other than making payments on time and keeping your credit utilization low? Check your free credit reports regularly: If there’s an error or a problem on your credit report, it’s even more important to make sure that you get it removed sooner rather than later.
Now, some specific loans and credit lines have built-in waiting periods after you declare bankruptcy. You can’t get a car loan, for example, until after your debts have been discharged. Your interest rate will also be very high — so paying for a car in cash is a better option. Conventional mortgages require a four-year wait after bankruptcy, but you can get an FHA loan after two years.
Other than that, it’s just a waiting game. But as we said above, the older data points on your credit report are less important than the newer ones, and keep growing less relevant each month.
You may regret the behaviors that brought you to file for bankruptcy, but do all the things you wish you’d done with your old credit life, and your credit will be on its way to repair. It might take between seven and 10 years for the bankruptcy to drop off of your credit report entirely, but you can still get some upward motion behind your score long before then.
Related Articles
- Six Factors That Make You More Likely to Go Bankrupt
- How Can Donald Trump Declare Bankruptcy Four Times… and Still Be a Billionaire?
- In What Order Should I Pay off My Debts?
- How to Build Good Credit
The post Rebuilding Your Credit After Bankruptcy appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Source The Simple Dollar The Simple Dollar http://ift.tt/290ChdB
Why the 67% of Millennials Without Credit Cards are Missing Out
At this point, it feels like it’s become something of a national pastime to hate on millennials.
We have stupid haircuts. We’re pretentious about beer and coffee. We get persnickety about “management styles” at work and accept handouts and free digs from mom and dad well into our 20s (OK, sometimes 30s).
So when Bankrate’s recent survey found only 33% of millennials have a major credit card, I know some people were surprised. Avoiding revolving debt seems like an uncharacteristic display of responsibility from the generation we love to hate.
I say “I know” because one such shocked person was my father, who greeted me with the following a few days ago:
“I heard about you millennial people on the news this morning. Very impressive!”
Thanks, Dad.
Two-Thirds of Millennials Don’t Carry Credit Cards
One thing’s for sure: Going into credit card debt is no fun and not a good financial strategy.
And with a credit limit way higher than the number on your paycheck, it’s easy to fall into the vicious debt cycle.
But before you gleefully accept your elders’ congratulations, shred your cards and help bloat that figure to 34% or even 50%, hold on.
While the decision to forego credit cards entirely might seem like a smart financial strategy, it might not actually be a good idea.
Credit cards can actually be extremely useful — if you know how to use them right.
Personally, I buy everything on my credit card. I just make sure I pay my cards down in full every single month to avoid paying even a cent of interest.
It took me a while to get to this point — initially, I screwed up my credit pretty badly and had to rebuild it. But that’s why it feels even better now to take advantage of the credit companies for all they’re worth.
Here are the ways credit cards can be useful tools:
1. They Establish Your, Well, Credit
It’s pretty hard to get an auto loan or a mortgage if you have no credit history.
Although there are lots of ways to get started, credit cards are probably the easiest way to establish credit history. There’s little barrier to entry for many low-limit cards, and you don’t need a down payment or deposit unless you’re applying for a secured card.
Even if you’re in your free-wheeling 20s right now, in 10 years, strong credit could save you thousands of dollars if you purchase a home.
2. You Can Get Free Rewards
Here’s why I use credit cards exclusively: I love to travel, and I don’t love spending thousands of dollars on airfare alone.
Rewards like frequent flier miles and cash back are used to advertise credit cards — for good reason. They’re super appealing, and they make it feel less naughty to spend on your card. Spend more, get more, right?
Right, unless you overspend until you can no longer pay in full — in which case, the card company makes a lot of moolah on your irresponsibility.
But if you’re not accruing interest, these truly are free rewards — just for making your purchases with plastic instead of paper.
In my case, they pay for the bulk of my travel expenses.
3. Many Come With Additional Perks
Other fun stuff I get from my credit cards:
- A statement credit for any in-flight WiFi I buy
- Free access to my FICO score
- Invitations to exclusive events
Some cardholders even get free TSA Precheck or Global Entry as a perk, and lots of us have surprisingly powerful concierge services we never take advantage of.
Having a credit card can sometimes feel as empowering and glamorous as the advertisements try to make it seem.
If You Don’t Have Strong Willpower, Forget Everything I’ve Said
Although they can be awesome for all the reasons I’ve listed above, if you don’t trust yourself not to abuse them, it probably is smarter to forego credit cards altogether.
The only way to reap the benefits without personal cost to you is to pay your cards off in full every single month.
Otherwise, it can be easy to buy something you know you can’t really afford — “just this once” — and fall into the cycle of revolving debt.
And trust me, that is one merry-go-round you do not want to ride.
Your Turn: Do you or the millennials you know (and, admit it, love) carry credit cards?
Jamie Cattanach is a millennial staff writer at The Penny Hoarder who definitely has credit cards. Her writing has also been featured at Word Riot, DMQ Review, Hinchas de Poesia and elsewhere. Find @JamieCattanach on Twitter to wave hello.
The post Why the 67% of Millennials Without Credit Cards are Missing Out appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
source The Penny Hoarder http://ift.tt/294TtBW
5 Ways to Increase Your Home Business’ Income
By Dawn Berryman If you are like most home business owners, you would like to make more money. There are many expenses involved when you are self-employed. At times, it may seem as though all of your hard work isn’t worth it because at the end of the day you really aren’t making that much […]
Source The Work at Home Woman http://ift.tt/28Zh42t
Source The Work at Home Woman http://ift.tt/28Zh42t
Savings update: snap up top deals before Brexit hits rates
Savers keen to snap up the top fixed rate on their money will need to act fast as the best deals are likely to be withdrawn imminently.
Already Close Brothers has closed its top-paying bonds following the UK's decision to leave the EU - which brings with it fear that interest rates could fall.
Source Moneywise http://ift.tt/290Ik2o
الاشتراك في:
الرسائل (Atom)